FAKING IT: Curated by Mia Fineman

 Mia Fineman, Asst Curator, Department of Photographs

Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop

EA: How long did you research for this exhibition? Mia Fineman: About three years traveling all over Europe and North America visiting collections, museums, archives, and private collectors. EA: Are there certain images that are your favorites? Mia Fineman: I was extremely happy to discover the negatives for the Yves Klein “Leap Into The Void”.  That was very exciting. I’ve always loved that image. That would probably be what I’m proudest of.

 Leap into the Void, 1960

© Yves Klein, ADAGP, Paris; Photo: Shunk-Kender 

© Roy Lichtenstein Foundation 

 Dimanche–Le Journal d'un seul jour

Yves Klein, November 27, 1960

Mia Fineman: I also love the vernacular images of the decapitations. EA: I had no idea there were so many. Mia Fineman: I didn’t either until I’d started working on this show seeing so many of them and wondered why this was such a popular motif. I eventually figured out the motif of decapitation was a big thing in stage magic at the same time.

 Man Serving Head on a Platter Date, ca. 1900

William Robert Bowles (1861–1918 Hopkinsville, Kentucky)

Twentieth-Century Photography Fund, 2011

 

 Man Juggling His Own Head, ca. 1880

Saint Thomas D'Aquin

He Lost His Head, 1910s
Unknown, American
Gift of Robert, Catherine and Molly Yoskowitz, 2011

Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop

 October 11, 2012—January 27, 2013

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 ALSO VIEW:

Faking It: The Show | Faking It: The Opening

FAKING IT: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop at The Met

 

Man on Rooftop with Eleven Men in Formation on His Shoulders

Unknown, American, ca. 1930

Group of Thirteen Decapitated Soldiers 

Unknown, ca. 1910

 New York City, New York City, ca. 1959

Weegee (American, born Hungary, 1899–1968)

 The Pond - Moonrise, 1904

Edward J. Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1933

 

 Le simulateur, 1936

Dora Maar (French, Paris 1907–1997 Paris)

 Faking It: 

Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop

Organized by Mia Fineman
Asst. Curator, Department of Photographs

Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the first major exhibition devoted to the History of Manipulated Photography Before the Digital Age.

"Featuring over 200 visually captivating photographs created between the 1840s and 1990s in the service of art, politics, news, entertainment, and commerce, the exhibition offers a provocative new perspective on the history of photography as it traces the medium’s complex and changing relationship to visual truth."

"The photographs in the exhibition were altered using a variety of techniques, including multiple exposure (taking two or more pictures on a single negative), combination printing (producing a single print from elements of two or more negatives), photomontage, overpainting, and retouching on the negative or print. In every case, the meaning and content of the camera image was significantly transformed in the process of manipulation. Faking It is divided into seven sections, each focusing on a different set of motivations for manipulating the camera image. The exhibition was made possible by Adobe Systems Incorporated" –The Met

Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop

 October 11, 2012—January 27, 2013

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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After Photoshop: Manipulated Photography in the Digital Age
September 25, 2012—May 27, 2013

An addendum to Faking It, After Photoshop exploring various ways in which artists have used digital technology to alter the photographic image over the past 20 years.

ALSO VIEW:

Faking It: The Show

Faking It: The Curator | Faking It: The Opening